HEALTHY DRINKING

I am thrilled to see that all that tea I drink is actually doing me some good!

RECORDERS and GIVING

We had a very memorable morning service yesterday. The congregation enjoyed a performance by 6 pupils of Drummond School who played their recorders as part of a fund raiser for a Special Olympics event later this summer. The boys played brilliantly. We wish them every success in their sporting endeavours.

In the evening we had a very thought provoking service led by Ken Walker based on Paul's encouragement to give generously in 2 Corinthians 8. At the end of the service, there was the opportunity to get into groups (entirely optional!) over coffee to discuss the following question (which I'm paraphrasing from memory!):

The government's economic rescue plan may fail. In all likelihood the UK will at some point cease to be one of the richest countries in the world. In what ways might this affect our giving as a Church?

Unfortunately I had to leave before the discussion, because of another commitment. Hopefully Ken may post some of the responses here when he has time. The basic idea of having an impromptu group time at the end of a service is a good one. It gives a time for discussion and response when the issues are still fresh in our minds. It's something we should do again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURDO ADAMS

Happy Birthday to Murdo Adams who is now 80 years young! Murdo was our church officer for 37 years. Hilton church, as I reflected yesterday, has a significant number of people who have been committed to its fellowship for decades. It's a great dimension of our life together as a church, that we have people like Murdo who were actually present when the foundation stone of the church was laid 53 years ago.

BITS& PIECES

The BBC webite always has something about faith and today there are 2 articles. One of significance for our culture and times and another which probably only makes sense in the US!

On a completely different level, I listened to the Bristish Lions rugby match on the radio yesterday. By all accounts the referee had an absolute shocker of a match, making several mistakes which were very costly for the Lions. I'm struck by the report on the BBC, in which none of the defeated team members make any reference to the failings of the referee. Why is it that so often in football all the criticism centres around the referee, while in rugby, decisions are accepted and not brought up after the match?

PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP

I'm sitting here doing some preparation for the services in the morning. I'm not the only one making such preparations. Some will be preparing for Sunday Club, while others will be working on music and prayers. I wanted to highlight the theme of preparation this morning, and express gratitude for all that so many do to make our experiences on a Sunday postives ones. I also wanted to highlight the preparation of one very special lady in Hilton Church who has been preparing every Saturday for decades. At the age of 87, she still goes to Simpsons in the Market to pick up flowers every Saturday morning. She then spends a considerable time in the afternoon arranging them, ready for Sunday. But not content with that level of preparation, Norma is then in the church kitchen by 8.30am every Sunday morning to set out the various drinks, so that we can all enjoy hospitality after the Services. She then repeats the same exercise at night! I honour Norma's unique service through this post and hope that she will have many more years of good health which will enable her to continue sharing in these vital aspects of our weekly worship.

BANA TRUST NEWSLETTER FOR JUNE

Another really encouraging newsletter from Robyn which you can read here. We are all really looking forward to having Robyn and Palesa back in Inverness for a few weeks over the summer.

Teenscene and Nitelife

It has been a real pleasure working with the young folk of Hilton Church over the past four years. They are an amazing bunch of people. Here are a few photos we took last Sunday morning.

CONGRATULATIONS to JAMIE GRANT

We are delighted to note the following piece of news from the latest HTC newsletter. We are very privileged to have Jamie serving as one of our elders at Hilton Church.

The Board of Governors of Highland Theological College UHI has also unanimously approved the appointment of Jamie Grant as Vice Principal of the College. After studying law at the University of Dundee, Jamie worked for seven years in Poland with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. He gained an MA in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in the States and a PhD on the Book of Psalms from the University of Gloucestershire. Jamie joined the staff of HTC in 2002 as Lecturer in Biblical Studies. He is also Postgraduate Studies Co-ordinator.

MISSION SHAPED MINISTRY 2

In relation to my previous post about Mission Shaped Ministry, I was intrigued to read this post.

The more you think about the issue of mission in 21st century Scotland, the more complexities emerge. There is no one size fits all panacea. So much of our efforts as a church centre around forming groups of one kind or another, but...

"........ it was interesting to read the following caution by John Finney, The Four Generations. Finding the Right Model for Mission. (It’s a Grove Book, which I find an increasingly useful resource). He noted that groups attract a certain type of person - more likely the curious, the gregarious, the educated, the articulate, those who have time. And that’s not everyone. “A vast number of people in this country go to work in the morning, come home, watch the television, do a bit of DIY and never go out except for excursions to the shops or on outings or to see other members of the family. They belong to no organization, join no group, seldom go to the pub; they are self-sufficient.”

MISSION SHAPED MINISTRY

A very significant aspect of our life as believers in Christ involves seeking to be shaped in such a way that we can effectively communicate the good news about Him. We have been experimenting with Cafe Church and Impact Cafe's over the last few years in an attempt to broaden the base of our life as a church together.A new strand of encouragement in this direction is going to emerge later this year! You can read all about it here.

YOUTH WORKER

I promised that I would post the advert as soon as it was available. Over the next few days, we will be trying to send it out to as many different churches, colleges and centres as we can think of, where potential youth workers might see it. Can you help please! If you know of anyone who might be interested or can post it on a notice board, please do so.Click here for full job advert

Your own personal Jesus

We have received a fascinating email from Al MacInnes and Fin MacRae which you can read on their blog.

RUNvideo

I've just seen this site recommended on Jonny Baker's blog. Our very own Rob & Gwen Barlow are a part of the team who created this video site. It looks really great. Many of the videos have been used at our regular Impact cafe services. It's very exciting to be part of something along with Rob & Gwen, which is at the cutting edge of emerging church.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Stuart and Elna who have just announced their engagement. They are getting married in October.

HILTON YOUTH PROJECT WORKER

The financial target for employing a Youth worker at Hilton Church has nearly been reached. We have pledges amounting to nearly £25,000 per annum. The task force charged with taking this project forward met on Sunday evening, and we hope to be able to start advertising the post through all the various networks available to us as soon as possible.I'll post details of the advert on this blog , just as soon as they are available.

CLASH ON TV!

I’ve have had an amazing time this March and April, flying down to London for Mondays and Tuesdays to film a new children’s television programme with the BBC called “Clash ”. There were two teams of mixed boys and girls playing different instruments (I was playing my clarsach). They were from all over the U.K. We competed against each other in musical challenges and in a final competition reworking a well-known piece of classical music into a pop track! I travelled all over London to recording studios and other secret locations to film the programme. I met many amazing people and I did lots of exciting things. I’ve really enjoyed my journeys to London. The programme is due to be broadcast on Tuesday 7th July, I can’t wait! Tune in to see which team won!

Megan Kiln

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Reading for June 28, 2009

Samuel 1:1, 17-27 Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43

IMPACT CAFE

Hello, Gwen Barlow here just to announce that it's Impact cafe with Rob and myself this Sunday evening at 6.30. With special cakes from Michelle and helpers from the Light House and an interactive evening. The theme is "The Spirit of The Age". We look forward to seeing you there. Blessings!

LIFE & WORK

We're still very concious that many folk are still just discovering the Light house, many months after we first opened - despite all our efforts at publicity! Today, a feature writer from the Church of Scotland's monthly magazine, Life & Work, came to see the Light house. She did a lengthy interview with Gwen, and there is likely to be a feature in the magazine in September.

LAPTOP CRASH!

My laptop crashed about 6 weeks ago, and I've just received it back after some very skilled surgery by Iain Ross. One of the consequences of such a gap is that I haven't looked at quite a few of my favourite blogs for a while. Brian McLaren's blog is always brim full of stimulating thoughts like this article on Fathers Day. Tim Chester from Sheffield's blog is also well worth reading. Today I have learnt that a book edited by our very own Jamie Grant has just been published, as per picture.

MEGAN KILN in CLASH!

What an exciting Spring it has been for Megan Kiln. She has been flying to London every week to participate in a BBC programe called Clash. It sounds a bit like a team version of Fame Academy for CBBC with a classical twist. Hopefully we can get Megan to do a post soon to tell us all about it.The series of 6 programmes starts on BBC1 Tuesday 7th July @ 4.35pm. You can read some more details about the programme here

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Reading for Sunday, 21 June , 2009
1 Samuel 17:(1a , 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Psalm 9:9-20
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41

BANA TRUST

Robyn & Palesa have been hosting the Hutchisons over the past 2 weeks. She has also just moved house. You can read all the latest news here.

HIGHLAND FESTIVAL

The Highland Festival with Luis Palau is now in full swing at various locations across the Highlands. It climaxes at the Bught Park, Inverness this Friday and Saturday. You can find full details on this link.

THANK YOU

Gwen has put together a nice little collage of the weekends events at the Light house which you can see here.

the big picnic

As we left Inverness for Nairn on Sunday after church, there were still nagging doubts - it might not be warm enough, maybe no-one will come, what if the tide's in, will it rain? But remembering the scripture shared at the morning service, the promise was claimed - if you have faith as big as a mustard seed . . .

And God blessed us - in abundance. Just over 100 folk came to the "Big Picnic" on the East sands at Nairn, the sun shone beautifully and brightly all day, the tide was fully out when we arrived, and great merriment followed.

And now, on Monday morning, I close my eyes for a little while and images fill my mind

- a collage of colourful travel rugs, pop-up tents, picnic hampers, sun-hats.
- Races on the wet sand for the children (and not-so-little!), and my heart strings being pulled when the pre-schoolers ran towards the line with their teddies.
- the all-age-Team-challenge with buckets to fill the water containers.
- a "tide fight" with the challenge to build a strong tower against the incoming tide. I can still see Rosie and Jim standing guard over their 'creation', and Simon Thomas smiling as his castle was the last one standing!
- The biggest kids (i.e. Chris and Lewis) attempting to catch Alan and throw him in the sea!
- Meghan and Rosie's Dad encouraging the kite-flying. What a glorious sight against the clear blue sky.
- all the teddies having a shot on the parachute, and the laughter that followed.


And the enrichment that I feel? I'm sure it lies in a sharing with a thankful heart. And the way of such a heart is the way of joy - that so much has been received, and maybe (dare I say it?) much may be given.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a very special day in the life and days of Hilton Church family.

Morag Macritchie.

TEDDY BEAR PICNIC PICTURES